Some good news with road funding

SoVaNow.com / April 09, 2014

The Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors learned there is more money available for local road improvements than anticipated during a brief meeting with Virginia Department of Transportation’s South Hill Residency Engineers, Billy Smith and Tommy Johnson.

The message was delivered as the supervisors’ roads committee met late last week to approve its most recent version of the six-year plan drawn up by VDOT for the repair and construction of local roads and bridges.

Amendments made last year to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s landmark transportation funding and reform bill, which was enacted in early 2013, resulted in Mecklenburg County gaining access to additional funding beyond the $90,000 in tele-fees previously allocated for secondary roadwork.

Changes made to the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s funding formula — which now allows state dollars to pay for paving of any road carrying more than 50 vehicles per day — will more than double last year’s construction allocation, rising to nearly $188,000 this year and to over $2 million over the next six years.

Mecklenburg County’s updated plan, which supervisors will be asked to approve, designates five roads for upgrade, one each year for the next five years. The five roads, in the order in which they will be paved, are: Lucinda Dirt Road between Rt. 712 and Rt. 711, Parsons Road in Chase City, Red Store Road in Clarksville, Old St. Tammany Road and Dixie Bridge Road, from Rt. 1 to the Lunenburg County Line.

Old St. Tammany and Dixie Bridge Roads were added to the list of roads scheduled for improvements due to the high volume of traffic that travels these roads each day. Old St. Tammany Road sees 384 cars per day and Dixie Bridge Road sees 206 cars per day, according VDOT’s most recent traffic study.

Committee member Bill Blalock renewed his ongoing objection to VDOT’s six-year plan, telling Smith and Johnson that many of the roads included in Mecklenburg were made part of the plan before he was first elected to the Board of Supervisors over 30 years ago.

The vote approving the most recent update to Mecklenburg County’s six year road improvement program is scheduled for the next Board of Supervisors meeting, April 14.